UNIT 28 IDENTIFYING THE FUNCTION OF LEARNER´S LANGUAGE

Identifying the function of learner´s language.

Function is known as the reason or the purpose of the use of the language, it doesn´t matter if they use formal, informal, or neutral language. In the field of communication students use the language unconsciously, it means they practice language when they do any activity. For example: teacher gives students a task where they must to work in pairs, and the objective of this task is that students practice a dialogue using the target language. They have to talk between them and they put in practice their speaking activity without think that they are interacting. As a result they are using interacting as a function.

Consequently, in the class the teacher has to follow a sequence or plan where he or she presents students different stages with different functions in order to use many exponents as much as possible. As a result students realize that exponent varies depending on the function. For the next time they probably know how to use the language correctly. For example: Teacher enters to the class, and students figure out that the correct function is greeting where the exponent could be Good morning, but you have to take into consideration that exponent can vary depending on the level of formality. Then, teacher probably introduces a topic and after that students could say “sorry I am not understood could you repeat that again, please”. Here we have the function asking for clarification. As we know teacher is the person who is a guide it means that teacher is an instructor where students must practice the language appropriately with the teacher´s help.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Sciencedirect.com,. (2016). The Use and Functions of Mother Tongue in EFL Classes. Retrieved 25 January 2016, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815044973.
• Iteslj.org,. (2016). Sert - The Functions of Code switching in ELT Classrooms (TESL/TEFL). Retrieved 25 January 2016, from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Sert-CodeSwitching.html.
• Htsb.org,. (2016). Retrieved 25 January 2016, from http://www.htsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Academic-Language-Functions-toolkit.pdf.
• YouTube,. (2016). Real World - Helping students with functional language Chris Redston. Retrieved 25 January 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw4HkSVwZ0s.